Last Wednesday the Nottingham Evening Post ran an article about the future of coal. It seems however that this article is nothing more than the uninformed opinion of one man. With no basis in fact, this article seems to be nothing more than a poor attempt to justify new coal in Nottinghamshire.
So as Nottinghamshire enjoys it’s Greenweeks series of festivals and activities to raise awareness all across the county – awareness about climate change and environmental issues – the Nottinghamshire Evening Post publishes an article describing how coal, and fossil fuels will always play a part in our energy production. The entire contents of the “article” is the opinion of one John Harvey. Now I do not know John Harvey so I can only judge him by the comments he made in this article, but the conclusion I draw right away is that as an ex-miner, he has a faith in mining and coal. It is a faith however, that renders him completely ignorant to reality.
John believes that coal must play a part long into the future of energy production, and that open cast mining will provide jobs in the coal industry for ex-miners. He also believes that open cast mining won’t be that bad for any local residents, and that fossil fuels “will never be extinct”.
It seems that John would have us forget the obvious fact that fossil fuels are a finite resource, and that they will all inevitably run out if we keep using them. To miss such a fundamental truth instantly discredits the article. He also fails to see any problems with open cast mining, and it seems he opts only to associate the fact that it involves “coal” with his memories of the miners struggle.
The problem is, that this is an attitude that is far too common in Nottinghamshire. Outside of Nottingham, in the surrounding towns and villages people will go to extraordinary lengths to defend any subject involving coal. Perhaps it was conditioned into people associated with the industry during their years of struggle. And for that I can’t blame them. But the general refusal to debate the subject is misguided at best.
The fact is, as anyone reading this site will know, that coal is bad. We know all about the parts per million of CO2. We know about 2 degree warming, polar ice caps, and we can quote facts and figures form leading scientists all day long. But we can’t communicate with people who simply refuse to listen, due to an instinctive defence of an industry that failed them.
I have wondered for some time now why this attitude exists. As we all know mining was a very dangerous business. People suffered some appalling illnesses through mining, and it’s history is stained with child labour and death. The claims for white finger and other mining related illnesses have not stopped a quarter of a century latter. Yet ex-miners still seem to yearn for the return of an industry that did little more than exploit them.
This yearning could not be more misplaced in this instance. I fully understand the desire for work in these times of difficulty. But as we all know, open cast mining offers little in the way of jobs, for ex-miners or otherwise. Open cast mining is about one thing, and that is maximising profits. Organisations do this by automating as much of their operation as possible. Open cast mining does not involve miners in any way, only huge machines that coldly and efficiently rape the land of all they can take. What few jobs are available could be filled by anyone, from anywhere, and will hardly be offered to ex-miners or local people by preference.
John is also of the false impression that open casting is not that bad for a local community! And as the first commenter to the article pointed out, his ideas about “something like a dust suppressor” simply do not wash. For the people who live next to these open cast sites, John’s comments hold little basis in reality.
Notts Against New Coal has no easy task ahead. With a poor understanding of the current issues surrounding coal so prolific throughout Nottinghamshire, getting people to understand that open cast mining has little to do with the industry that built their communities is difficult. Particularly when newspapers are so willing to publish articles that have no research behind them, and are based entirely on the rantings of one person.
